Wines & Vines

November 2018 Equipment, Supplies & Services Issue

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November 2018 WINES&VINES 73 WINEMAKING the same quality parameters as a very good bottle of Champagne." Stuart produces two sparkling wines: Rosé d'Or, a tête de cuvée non-vintage, and Bubbly, a blanc de blancs non-vintage. Pinot Noir pre- dominates in the Rosé d'Or blend. Stuart sources some of the fruit from organically farmed Temperance Hill Vineyard in Eola- Amity Hills, but Menefee Vineyard in Yamhill- Carlton provides the main source of Pinot Noir, along with a smidgen of Roussanne and Pinot Blanc. About 20% of the Rosé d'Or is Chardon- nay from Courting Hill. "I only started to add Roussanne and Pinot Blanc to Rose D'Or in the 2016 tirage (it is still an NV). I add it because where it's grown (cold site), and particularly the Roussanne gives the wine some very high and bright acidity. The original concept goes back to the days of Na- poleon, when he thought the best sparkling wine came from the Rhone, and from Rous- sanne and possibly Marsanne." Columbia Gorge AVA's Analemma Wines represent a more boutique approach. The winery was founded in Mosier Valley, Ore., in 2010 by Steven Thompson and Kris Fade, who set about crafting a single-variety, single-vine- yard, single-vintage sparkling wine in 2013. They source fruit from Atavus Vineyard, a nearly 50-year-old high-elevation site in the foothills of Mount Adams. But sparkling wine also spans coastlines. In New Jersey's Outer Coastal Plain AVA, fifth- generation fruit farmers Bill and Penni Heri- tage established Heritage Vineyards in 1999 after converting part of their 150-acre peach and apple orchards to wine grapes. "We set out to make sparkling as a way to utilize our Pinot Noir plantings. It became evi- dent after some trial and error that we would be unable to produce a truly great still Pinot Noir on our property here in southern New Jersey," said Sean Comninos, winemaker for William Heritage, the Heritages' wine brand. "Rather than replant to something else, I noted that the fruit was just about perfect for spar- kling in mid-to late August and decided to give that a go. Things went well enough that we actually reversed course on the removal of Pinot Noir (we had previously removed a few rows of Pommard clones close to the tasting room) and have expanded our plantings spe- cifically for sparkling production." Despite these regional variations, the most common soil type is sandy loam. Most vineyards face south, southeast or southwest. Elevations range between 200 and 1,800 feet. Clones, rootstock and spacing vary, with VSP trellising KEY POINTS Both vintage and non-vintage sparkling wines are produced. New winemaking products assist in fer- mentation, clarification and stability. Domestic producers use a mix of tradi- tional and innovative methods. Tex Sawyer is a consulting winemaker who special- izes in sparkling wine production. MIRRA STUDIO Powered by BREWEROMS ORDER TODAY! winesandvines.com/boms A unique online system to locate, contact and sell to U.S. beer producers. The Wines & Vines Brewer Online Marketing System (BOMS) is a web-based system that allows you to search more than 4,300 North American breweries by specific criteria, and export data into custom reports.

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